<p>Stats: 2170 SAT, 30 ACT, 3.6 GPA, most rigorous courses at her 'top 25 elite public high schools' in U.S., per USNWR.
She will be a national merit finalist if that makes any difference.
few EC's--band for several years, student ambassador for her school.</p>
<p>HOw liberal is Kenyon? Are there a good mix of socially conservative students as well as liberal-minded students?</p>
<p>My D wants to try writing as a career.</p>
<p>My son's school and many other rigorous prep schools have Kenyon on their list. It's supposed to be a fine, fine school with a good mix of students.</p>
<p>Thanks for your response. Any others?</p>
<p>Kenyon is known for its writing program, so I think it's a good match. I would also suggest Barnard for the same reason.</p>
<p>Kenyon is a notch below Oberlin and Carleton on the liberal scale...so still fairly liberal, with a decent smattering of conservatives. I agree that Kenyon is a good school for writers. Your D should visit Kenyon as soon as possible to get a feel for campus and the area.</p>
<p>Also less liberal than Grinnell, another school that is attracting attention. And Macalester.</p>
<p>I would agree about visiting. DD1 hated her visit (much had to do with the drizzling rain and gray buildings). I am convinced DD2 will love it (we'll go in the fall).</p>
<p>I actually just transferred from Kenyon. Academically, it's a very fine school. About 15% of the students are serious scholars. The faculty is dedicated to teaching, and one rarely finds a bad professor.</p>
<p>As for the writing... I'm not sure Kenyon is the best choice. I went expecting hordes of capable poets, and did not find them. Very few students--you can count them on one hand--are truly dedicated to their writing. The writing program is very conservative. Formal experimentation of any kind if subtly discouraged. </p>
<p>Politically, most students are apathetic, though they self-identify as democrats. The vocal political science department (mostly Neo-Cons) provides a nice counterpoise to the left-leaning students.</p>
<p>Kenyon is certainly not for everyone. It is the unusual student who gladly strands herself in the wastelands of Ohio for four years. Many students don't consider this before they enroll.</p>
<p>It is a good place to spend a week or two in their young writers summer program. It is very isolated. Visit to get a feel for the place...it is a fine school for right students. But that's true for any college.</p>
<p>good school, liberal but not as far left as some other LACs</p>
<p>Riceward.. Glad you find where you think you will fit in. </p>
<p>"It is the unusual student who gladly strands herself in the wastelands of Ohio for four years."</p>
<p>TOO FUNNY. My daughter can't WAIT for the solitude of Gambier. Her only concern is the 40 minute drive to the closest Chipotle.</p>
<p>Best of luck at Rice.</p>
<p>aurorad-</p>
<p>I just finished my freshman year at Kenyon, and I couldn't be happier. After the first month or two I was kind of put off by the constant left wing views of what seemed like all the students. It wasn't until I had gotten through most of the year and thus talked to a larger number of students that I realized that there is a pretty solid number of conservatives and libertarians, but they don't tend to write a many allstus or articles in the collegian as the socialists do. You'll have a hard time finding many students who like Bush, but not such a hard time finding students who object to higher taxes and more social programs. Riceward is right about the polisci department. Honestly, I've found most Kenyon students to understand other political points of view. If you think your daughter should only consider schools where a lot of people agree with her politically, I think you should reconsider your criteria. I have found the administration to be obsessed with political correctness, diversity and the like, but that might just be a reflection on the nature of college administrators regardless of political view. Hope those thoughts help.</p>
<p>aurorad-</p>
<p>I just finished my freshman year at Kenyon, and I couldn't be happier. After the first month or two I was kind of put off by the constant left wing views of what seemed like all the students. It wasn't until I had gotten through most of the year and thus talked to a larger number of students that I realized that there is a pretty solid number of conservatives and libertarians, but they don't tend to write a many allstus or articles in the collegian as the socialists do. You'll have a hard time finding many students who like Bush, but not such a hard time finding students who object to higher taxes and more social programs. Riceward is right about the polisci department. Honestly, I've found most Kenyon students to understand other political points of view. If you think your daughter should only consider schools where a lot of people agree with her politically, I think you should reconsider your criteria. I have found the administration to be obsessed with political correctness, diversity and the like, but that might just be a reflection on the nature of college administrators regardless of political view. Hope those thoughts help.</p>
<p>My D just graduated and, like most others, loved Kenyon. The typical Kenyon student doesn't really focus on the liberal/conservative thing. They are just good kids, whether liberal, conservative, or neither (not "apathetic") - like my D. She stood in line for hours her freshman year to vote. Oberlin is liberal. Period. I asked her toward the end of her frosh yr if she wanted to transfer any place else - absolutely not.</p>
<p>After about 6 mo abroad her Jr. yr., she couldn't wait to get back.</p>
<p>"It is the unusual student who gladly strands herself in the wastelands of Ohio for four years. Many students don't consider this before they enroll." - as noted by mallomar, this statement is silly. The admissions at Kenyon are biased in favor of those who visit and express a real interest in attending based on that experience.</p>
<p>My D attended on one of those "rigorous prep schools" in the east. She wouldn't even look at colleges in the east. She visited a range of colleges/universities in OH and CA.</p>
<p>We visited Kenyon (her first time), the day after a huge electrical storm knocked down numerous, ancient trees on campus and knocked out the electricity. She loved it at first sight.</p>
<p>Best of luck with the selection process, but make sure it's where SHE wants to go.</p>
<p>Some have argued (and I would agree) that the rash of vandalism and, more shockingly, the violence against security officers which has cropped up within the last year result directly from the enrollment of students who did not fully consider the ramifications of four years in rural Ohio. </p>
<p>Every Kenyon student questions his decision to attend at some point. The moment came for me over Thanksgiving break of my freshman year when I realized my high school friends at NYU spent their Saturdays at the MoMA, while I spent mine at Wal-Mart. This is not to say that the great majority of Kenyonites aren't pleased with their choice... they are. But, since the college became more high profile/more prestigious (the acceptance rate dropping by forty percent within the last fifteen years), a good many students, between five and ten percent, say, choose Kenyon simply because "it was the best school I got into." These are the students who break the windows (and the noses of the security officers). </p>
<p>To reiterate, I would implore any would-be Kenyon student to think carefully about what it means to spend four years on The Hill. </p>
<p>This argument was made at length in a recent issue of the "Collegian."</p>
<p>Kenyon has made it on the list of many east coast kids' college lists. I know that kids at my sons' school often select K as a choice. I would say that it is far more common for kids from here to go there than to Carlton or Oberlin. I have heard that this is a more recent phenomonon. Oberlin used to be more "popular", I understand. Grinnell is also making its way up on NE kids' lists. Denison is another school that prep schools love to recommend.</p>
<p>A security guard punched in the nose! Hadn't heard about that one. It must rank up there with "The Great Bar Fight" between construction workers and townies while the KAC was under construction.</p>
<p>Seriously, higher admission standards do bring their own set of problems. Another of which is the male vs. female enrollment quandry that Dean Delahunty addressed in the NY Times a couple years ago.</p>
<p>But like they say at Syms, "An educated consumer is our best customer."</p>
<p>I'll give my two cents.
i visited kenyon about a month ago on a college roadtrip with it very high on my list. Unfortunatley, it really wasn't for me. The campus was absolutely gorgeous and I still think the classes would be great, but I couldn't get over Gambier. I'm not trying to bash it, by any means, it's just a place that isn't for me.
I have to say that I didn't visit when classes where in session, and this may have made it seem even more secluded and stranded, but I don't think it would make that much of a difference for me.
On another note, it wasn't just the small size of the town, because I loved Northfield. Maybe it was Ohio, because I wasn't too fond of Oberlin, either. ;)
anyway, i think Kenyon is definatley a school that you need to visit before applying or at least before deciding to attend.</p>
<p>I would like to point out that Kenyon is in Gambier (village), population 1,900 and has no stoplights. Northfield has ~20,000 for a population and has 2 major colleges....not the same.</p>
<p>I agree that one should visit Kenyon and the surrounding area before attending, and ideally before applying. Also, spend 30 minutes exploring Mt. Vernon (larger town 10 mins away) if you visit, as that will be your closest civilization of sorts.</p>
<p>I don't think it is just OH, Oberlin kind of sucks ;)</p>